The activity of cells can be regulated by external signals that stimulate or inhibit intracellular events. The process by which stimulatory or inhibitory signals are transmitted into and within a cell to elicit an intracellular response is referred to as signal transduction. Over the past decades, cascades of signal transduction events have been elucidated and found to play a central role in a variety of biological responses. Defects in various components of signal transduction pathways have been found to account for a vast number of diseases, including numerous forms of cancer, inflammatory disorders, metabolic disorders, vascular and neuronal diseases (Gaestel et al. Current Medicinal Chemistry (2007) 14:2214-2234).
Kinases represent a class of important signaling molecules. Kinases can generally be classified into protein kinases and lipid kinases, and certain kinases exhibit dual specificities. Protein kinases are enzymes that phosphorylate other proteins and/or themselves (i.e., autophosphorylation). Protein kinases can be generally classified into three major groups based upon their substrate utilization: tyrosine kinases which predominantly phosphorylate substrates on tyrosine residues (e.g., erb2, PDGF receptor, EGF receptor, VEGF receptor, src, abl), serine/threonine kinases which predominantly phosphorylate substrates on serine and/or threonine residues (e.g., mTorC1, mTorC2, ATM, ATR, DNA-PK, Akt), and dual-specificity kinases which phosphorylate substrates on tyrosine, serine and/or threonine residues.
Lipid kinases are enzymes that catalyze the phosphorylation of lipids. These enzymes, and the resulting phosphorylated lipids and lipid-derived biologically active organic molecules play a role in many different physiological processes, including cell proliferation, migration, adhesion, and differentiation. Certain lipid kinases are membrane associated and they catalyze the phosphorylation of lipids contained in or associated with cell membranes. Examples of such enzymes include phosphoinositide(s) kinases (e.g., PI3-kinases, PI4-Kinases), diacylglycerol kinases, and sphingosine kinases.
The phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3Ks) signaling pathway is one of the most highly mutated systems in human cancers. PI3K signaling is also a key factor in many other diseases in humans. PI3K signaling is involved in many disease states including allergic contact dermatitis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, inflammatory bowel diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, asthma, disorders related to diabetic complications, and inflammatory complications of the cardiovascular system such as acute coronary syndrome.
PI3Ks are members of a unique and conserved family of intracellular lipid kinases that phosphorylate the 3′-OH group on phosphatidylinositols or phosphoinositides. The PI3K family comprises 15 kinases with distinct substrate specificities, expression patterns, and modes of regulation. The class I PI3Ks (p110α, p110β, p110δ, and p110γ) are typically activated by tyrosine kinases or G-protein coupled receptors to generate PIP3, which engages downstream effectors such as those in the Akt/PDK1 pathway, mTOR, the Tec family kinases, and the Rho family GTPases. The class II and III PI3Ks play a key role in intracellular trafficking through the synthesis of PI(3)P and PI(3,4)P2. The PI3Ks are protein kinases that control cell growth (mTORC1) or monitor genomic integrity (ATM, ATR, DNA-PK, and hSmg-1).
The delta (δ) isoform of class I PI3K has been implicated, in particular, in a number of diseases and biological processes. PI3K-δ is expressed primarily in hematopoietic cells including leukocytes such as T-cells, dendritic cells, neutrophils, mast cells, B-cells, and macrophages. PI3K-δ is integrally involved in mammalian immune system functions such as T-cell function, B-cell activation, mast cell activation, dendritic cell function, and neutrophil activity. Due to its integral role in immune system function, PI3K-δ is also involved in a number of diseases related to undesirable immune response such as allergic reactions, inflammatory diseases, inflammation mediated angiogenesis, rheumatoid arthritis, and auto-immune diseases such as lupus, asthma, emphysema and other respiratory diseases. Other class I PI3K involved in immune system function includes PI3K-γ, which plays a role in leukocyte signaling and has been implicated in inflammation, rheumatoid arthritis, and autoimmune diseases such as lupus.
Unlike PI3K-δ, the beta (β) isoform of class I PI3K appears to be ubiquitously expressed. PI3K-β has been implicated primarily in various types of cancer including PTEN-negative cancer (Edgar et al. Cancer Research (2010) 70(3):1164-1172), and HER2-overexpressing cancer such as breast cancer and ovarian cancer.